During his days as a football star at Bruton High, Lorenzo Taliaferro envisioned a collegiate future of running for touchdowns in some place like Blacksburg during the day, then partying at night.

He didn't see himself in Scranton, a town he euphemistically describes as "quiet." He didn't see himself paying to play his first season for a no-frills two-year program in northeastern Pennsylvania, then burning the midnight oil studying.

But Taliaferro is honest enough to admit that laziness, off of the gridiron anyway, put him where he is today: at Lackawanna College. Increasing maturity has allowed him to make the most of his nearly two school years there, and has him poised to ink a Division I scholarship.

"I can't be mad about where I am, because if I'd done the (academic) work in the first place I wouldn't be here," said Taliaferro, a 6-foot-1 1/2 inch, 230-pound sophomore fullback. "I look at it now that this was meant to be.

"Had I gone to a Division I school out of high school, I might have gotten comfortable. I've learned that when you work hard, and you work hard at what you love, good things can happen."

What Taliaferro wants is to ink a scholarship to a school like Big East power Connecticut, which has shown interest in him. At the moment, the most serious interest is coming from Football Championship Subdivision schools like Coastal Carolina and Texas Southern. Hampton also contacted him this week.

Grades won't be a problem this time when Taliaferro goes to sign on the dotted line. His grade point average through three semesters is 3.12, and he says he's on track to graduate in the spring with an associates degree in Criminal Justice.

Football-wise, his college of choice will get an even more athletic prospect than the kid who ran for 1,678 yards and scored 21 touchdowns in leading Bruton – the state's smallest Group AA school – to within three yards of the 2009 Division 3 state title.

"Lorenzo has been extraordinary," said Lackawanna head coach Mark Duda, who says that 300 of his players have moved on to the FBS or FCS levels during his nearly 20 years as head coach. "He's increased from 200 to 230 pounds while he's been here, without any extra body fat.

"He's been super-attentive and gotten better everyday on the field and in the classroom."

Taliaferro says he barely understood the concept of two-year schools when he committed to Lackawanna because his grades were too low for a four-year school. Bruton coach Tracy Harrod, whose guidance helped Taliaferro – academically ineligible as a high school sophomore – improve his grades as a junior and senior, thought it was a perfect place for him.

"Some kids don't wake up until a little later in high school," Harrod said. "I told Zo his dreams were all still in front of him, but he was going to have to take the long route."

Taliaferro will tell you, with no bitterness, that it's also the hard route. He said that many of his teammates at Lackawanna are Division I caliber talents who take junior college route because of personal problems: high school injuries, bad grades, scrapes with the law among them.

"It makes you realize that you're not the only one in the world with problems," Taliaferro said. "But you respect them because they're still trying to make their Division I dreams happen."

Many do. Taliaferro's first assignments in practice as a 200-pound freshman included lead-blocking 240-pound linebackers who have since signed with West Virginia, Cincinnati and North Carolina.

"I went home with a headache every night," Taliaferro said. "But I ran into the holes with confidence and started to get more playing time."

By his sophomore season, Taliaferro was starting at fullback and returning kicks. And he was giving those headaches, Duda said, to opposing defensive coordinators. Taliaferro scored 10 touchdowns this past season for Lackawanna and had 312 all-purpose yards in one game.

"He's a nightmare to game-plan, because he's so versatile," Duda said. "Most fullbacks are big guys who run straight ahead.

"Lorenzo can run, block, catch the ball out of the backfield or line up like a tight end and run downfield and catch it. He has a 30-inch vertical and good range.

"He could play as a fullback or in a one-back set out of the spread on the next level because of his versatility. He's an incredible hybrid."

The school that signs Taliaferro will also be getting a player who understands the importance of studying. Taliaferro says that once he decided to focus on academics it wasn't nearly as difficult as he thought.

He wishes, of course, that he'd figured that out early in high school and had a shot at the big-time sooner. But he has no regrets.

"My grandmother used to tell me, `You have crawl before you can walk,' " Taliaferro said. "I needed to struggle some before I could succeed.

"When you have to work hard for what you get, you appreciate it more."